ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the development of the state in Myanmar since 1948. It suggests that the current republican vision of the state, led by a mixture of civilian and military personnel and organised through liberal-democratic institutions, is part of an older effort to resolve deeply entrenched socio-economic challenges and political debates over how the nation should be defined. The chapter considers earlier attempts to adopt particular political orientations and pursue different economic goals as context for Myanmar's recent liberalisation in 2011. It suggests that this form of institutional partnership has been a signature feature of the state since 1948 and each new government recalibrated institutions to either concentrate or disperse state power. The chapter discusses that the state has oscillated between connecting the country's economy to the global market and developing its domestic economic infrastructure through more independent means. An ongoing civil war, a destroyed infrastructure, and fractious socio-political divisions amongst political elites have constrained these efforts since 1948.
